CHICAGO –– Earlier this season, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he believed Yoshinobu Yamamoto would throw a no-hitter this year.
Deep into Saturday’s game at Rate Field against the White Sox, that prediction looked like it might not be bold enough.
On a mild Chicago afternoon, in which the Dodgers’ understated staff ace ascended to levels not seen since his World Series MVP-winning form from last October, Yamamoto carried a perfect game bid all the way into the bottom of eighth inning, and a no-hitter into the ninth.
That close, the diminutive right-hander was to making history.
Instead, both achievements were lost on a pair of stunning moments in the Dodgers’ eventual 7-1 win.
With two outs in the eighth –– and Yamamoto also one out away from matching an MLB record by retiring 46 batters in a row, going back to the seven-plus perfect innings he threw at the end of a start against the Angels last week –– Yamamoto threw a low slider that Chase Meidroth chopped to shortstop.
Standing there, ready to make the play, was 2025 Gold Glove finalist Mookie Betts.
The last hop, however, was bigger than he expected, booting the ball off the heel of his mitt for a perfecto-snapping error.
Betts seemed to be in disbelief as the ball trickled away from him. He raised his arms, and then hung his head.
Nonetheless, Yamamoto quickly recovered, getting Jacob Gonzalez to ground out to keep the no-hitter intact. Then, back in the dugout, the ace pitcher was one of several Dodgers teammates to console Betts with a slap on his back.
Thus came the ninth, with a sold-out crowd rising to its feet as Yamamoto returned to the mound.
Two pitches later, though, Yamamoto threw a fastball down the middle that Tristan Peters squared up, hooking a line-drive home run just inside the right-field foul pole.
It was the second time in the last two years that Yamamoto –– who would get one more out before finishing an 8 ⅓ inning, 109-pitch, seven-strikeout gem –– had lost a no-no on a ninth-inning home run.